The New Legends
by KitsuneWannaBe
Summary: Hundreds of years after the time of Grisia Sun, the 82nd generation of holy knights serve their God of Light in an age of exploration and times of great change. New continents have to be explored. New religions have been discovered. And new technological advancements mean that the knights must not only contend with old world magic, but with new steam powered machines as well.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**I am a _knight_.**

...Okay, I'll admit that I don't very much look like a knight. After all a white apron, dish soap in one hand and a sponge in the other are not, traditionally speaking, a knight's usual tools.

But you can rest assured that I am indeed a knight and not just any knight at that. I'm a _holy_ knight belonging to the Church of the God of Light!

...

I find your disbelief understandable. After all, what kind of holy knight spends their valuable time washing dishes, right? Shouldn't I be off helping to save the city from undead creatures or giving to the poor or healing the sick or spreading the good word of the God of Light and such noble deeds as that?

Well, I'll have you know that washing dishes is a very useful skill. After I retire from my (very honorable) position my pension won't be very high and it's good to have a multitude of skills to fall back on such as accounting, bookkeeping...and dish washing.

Perhaps I should explain myself better. History is my absolute favorite subject, but most people find it pretty boring so I'll keep this short-

Ahem, approximately 880 years ago _Grisia Sun_ was and still is the most famous Sun Knight in history. He did many great things and went on many grand adventures, making his fame rival that of even the first Sun Knight. To think that such a person could really exist, it's absolutely amazing! I've always loved stories like that. I loved them so much that through lots of hard work(luck) I was able to become of the Twelve Holy Knights myself. That's right, I'm absolutely amazing.

That's why right now, even though it seems like I'm merely washing dishes, I'm doing so just as skillfully and enthusiastically as if I were leading a whole platoon in a charge with the God of Light speaking directly speaking to my heart!

But unfortunately I'm **NOT** leading a platoon in a charge.

The God of Light is **NOT** speaking directly to my heart.

I'm standing here with my soap in one hand and sponge in another ready for another day of battling stacks of dishes higher than my head because unlike Grisia, I am **NOT** the Sun Knight legend, but the **Hell** Knight of today.

And today I swear to the God of Light that as soon as I finish up this pain-in-the-ass undercover mission I'm going to assassinate the person who sent me on this pain-in-the-ass undercover mission so he can say "hi" to his famous predecessor personally!

Why do I have to be the one to wash dishes?!

I'm a holy knight, dammit!


	2. A New Legend

**Chapter One: The Legend of the _Hell_ Knight**

_Why are all the Holy Knights so overly good looking?_ My younger self once peevishly asked my teacher, the 81st generation's Hell Knight.

My teacher looked at me with an expression that was half amusement and half exasperation. He was used to my constant string of questions, believing it was important for a spy to have a natural sense of curiosity, but at this point of my training he had hoped that I would have learned to figure many things out for myself.

Instead of giving me a direct answer, my teacher replied with a question of his own.

_Child,_ he said. _The temple is so beautiful. If the people of the other continents saw it, do you not think that they would instantly fall to their knees and swear piety before the God of Light?_

_No, of course not, _I replied with certainty. In the six years that I had trained with my teacher, I had already been to one other continent and had visited several countries on this one. Nobody would swear piety to the God of Light merely because the main temple was pretty to look at.

_Indeed. Having twelve beautiful spokespersons is much more convincing than any building._ My teacher explained. _Although there have been shaky times in the past, and the temple even fell once-_

_Yes, 462 years ago during the time of-_ I perked up instantly recalling the historical passages I had read.

My teacher gave me a rough tap on the head.

_Don't interrupt,_ He ordered.

_ow... yes sir._

_Anyway_, teacher continued by saying, _A living person is obviously much more powerful than any building. Since the beginning, as long as they worked together, the holy knights have always been blessed by the God of Light._

I nodded, not quite believing this truth to be the work of divine influence, but also not willing to believe it was purely coincidence either.

On the other hand, there were so many religions in the world. Many of them made sense, in their own way, but I only believed in things I could see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears and touch with my own hands.

I had yet to see, hear, or touch a _god_.

_So as you can see_, my teacher added confidently. _It's only natural that all of the Twelve Holy Knights would be very handsome._

I pondered this a moment before suddenly declaring, _Then I don't believe the God of Light to be a god at all! Only a GODDESS would want to be represented by twelve beautiful men!_

This caught my teacher so much by surprise and he even began roaring with laughter. Luckily we were in a very private spot so no one would stop and gape at the usually very mysterious and stoic Hell Knight clutching his stomach giggling.

After wiping his eyes my teacher said, _If the God of Light is really a goddess, then I think the knights would have no regrets in their final meeting with her._

_...Still I wish I could be the Sun Knight._ I said mournfully for the nth time. Since every young boy wanted to be the Sun Knight, my obsession may have been childish but not unusual. After I started living at the Temple I had read every passage relating to Sun Knights that I could get my hands on. I was even more knowledgeable than the young Cloud Knight on the subject.

Being a little...disenchanted by the world, maybe more than anything I just wanted proof that there really was a god? Could the Sun Knight, the God of Light's number one spokesperson give me that?

Teacher shook his head for the nth time as well.

_You can't be the Sun Knight,_ he said, _You're a-_

_..._Awake.

Just as the first light of dawn could be seen, my dream of the past ended and I sat up in my bunk. I hastily gathered some nuts and stale bread I had wrapped up and hidden in my clothes. I knew I would need all of my strength to get me through another day in this country. As I changed out of my night clothes and into my servant's disguise, my taste buds yearned for a cup of real tea. This country preferred a dark, almost black, drink they called "coffee". I found it to be very bitter and unpleasant. It was nothing like the silky-smooth-cups-of-heaven I was used to. Just another thing that made me wish I was back home.

After glancing out the window I could see the summer sun was rising faster than me. The household breakfast would be served in a mere few hours and if I wanted to have some table scraps for my lunch, I needed to be as my post before the first bell rang.

As far as disguises went, kitchen servant was rather delightful. Granted I was working from dawn until well after supper and my breaks were few and far between, but I was a knight. If I wasn't busy gathering information in a far off land, I would be drilling with my platoon or patrolling the city or helping Knight-Captain Sun with whatever (annoying!) matters he needed handled discreetly. Fortunately he's only asked me to carry out one assassination and Knight-Captain Judgment managed to calm him down insisting that killing off a member of parliament just because he was fat and stupid was _not_ a good idea.

'What parliament', you say? Oh, brother, where have you been in the past few hundred years? Well I'm sort of in a hurry, but I'll try to explain anyway.

About 400 years ago there was a dramatic shift in power. Originally countries were basically made up of two kinds of people, the rich and snobby nobles and the dirt poor peasants. There were still adventure teams running around and taking on dangerous missions of course, but adventure teams don't usually tie themselves down to one country. Also after hundreds and hundreds of years, slowly there became fewer and fewer missions for adventure teams to carry out. Thus they became part of the (dirt poor) peasant class. Since there were fewer dragons and monsters running around, merchants could travel around as they please and become fifthly rich. In fact, many of the more business-minded merchants actually became richer than the snobby nobles. A new class of merchants plus a growing number of dirt-poor-dragon-slaying peasants plus a traditionally snobby and stupid class of nobles is the perfect breeding ground for a revolution!

Long story short, we still have a king and a royal family, but it's the snobby nobles and the rich merchants that do all the governing and the poor peasants got screwed over after doing most of the revolting.

So why didn't the Church do anything? What good is a religion if you don't have a ton of people that have something to pray for? If the world was just fine and dandy then there wouldn't be a need for people to pray to the gods! If the world were all about peaches and rainbows then there'd be no need for people like me who specialize learning top secret stuff and assassinating annoying people! There would be no need for the Church of the God of Light! There would be no need for a Hell Knight! I'd be out of a job, twice!

So in order to stay gainfully employed I have traveled for half a year across the roughest seas to this distant country to see if "the rumors" were correct. I have infiltrated this very lavish household as an assistant cook and a …dish washer... to see for my own eyes if there really was, as rumors suggested, a diabolical weapon of war in the works that could threaten not only the Church of the God of Light, but the world.

Now if I understand my god even a teeny bit, I know that the benevolent God of Light would never allow his followers to be harmed by such evil devices.

But since the benevolent God of Light isn't here, we, the Twelve Holy Knights, must act in his stead as protectors of the people!

...or at least that's what Captain-Knight Sun told me before shoving my ass onto a rickety, leaky, smelly and rat-infested boat.

Rumors my foot! I haven't managed to anything beyond the "normal" levels of shady. Political power plays, romantic scandals, and secret torture chambers are **not** worth my time. The amount of dishes this mansion goes through is more diabolical than any "secret weapon" that I've seen.

I haven't been home to my nice soft bed in nearly ten months and I'm pretty sure that the only reason Sun sent me on this wild goose chase was because I "accidentally" switched out some of his best wine barrels with vinegar.

...Okay, maybe I secretly crept in and moved ALL the contents of his wine cellar to an undisclosed location.

And he might have been a just a "little" bit mad when I refused to tell him where that undisclosed location was even after he "asked nicely".

But the only reason I did it was because he used some of my best and most expensive tea leaves to impress his date-

Urk! I mean... "enlighten a young woman to the benevolence of the God of Light".

Yes, my tea stash is that good, but it cost me a month's worth of salary to import so I might have over reacted a just teeny bit.

And so, here I am. Every day for the past month I've been repenting for my sin by waking up at the crack of dawn just so I could throw on a terribly uncomfortable lace trimmed uniform, earn some table scraps for lunch, steal a few select menu items for my dinner and breakfast, and last, but not least, try to save the world from some yet unknown threat. This is the life of the Hell Knight.

Fortunately for me, I'm _very_ good at my job. The master of this extravagant household partially owns the majority of the port's main shipping companies, two factories, a couple very profitable (but morally questionable) side businesses, and has a list of honorary associates as long as my arm. There is nothing in this town that this man doesn't know about and because of my daily visits to his personal papers, there's nothing going on in this town that _I_ don't know about either.

And there was nothing. On the one hand I was relieved, since this meant my duty was completed and I could finally return home soon and get my revenge- er, I mean "report back to Knight-Captain Sun".

On the other hand when I did return home I would have to fill out ten months' worth of reports that basically said, "I found nothing" and then carefully catalogue all the evidence I had gathered to support this claim. In addition to that I would have to play catch up on ten months' worth of paperwork that had collected in my absence. Taking all this into consideration I decided that another few weeks of washing dishes really wasn't so bad.

I walked into the kitchen ready for an easy day and met with a flurry of unexpected activity. Usually there was only one head cook on duty. This time all three were present giving orders and dozens of servants were running around like terrified chickens. I stood there stunned for a moment pondering if I had really should have just hopped aboard a ship last night.

One of the cooks caught sight of me and pointed.

"YOU!" He said, clearly not caring what my name (or alias in this case) was. "You're late! Hurry up and help me get these eggs ready!"

Right after him the second head cook ordered, "And when you're done there help me with these sandwiches!"

And from then on I was running back and forth from task to task terribly confused on what holiday or special event that I could have forgotten about. I studied the menu items carefully. The main dish for breakfast was boiled eggs and some sweet pastry that I had no intention of ever trying so I never learned the name of it. I hated sweet foods, but these two items alone told me that it was going to be a light breakfast for the family followed by a quick cup of coffee.

Lunch was also being prepared at the same time suggesting that the family would be going on a picnic. Afternoon snack would be something just to tie them over until evening which I could now safely assume would be hosted away from the house.

_A party perhaps?_ But since I didn't know what for, I decided to ask.

As soon as I let the words of inquiry quietly slide past my lips a fellow servant gave me a look harsher than the Moon Knight and the Metal Knight put together. I quickly forgave her for this. I may be a Holy Knight (in disguise), but I wasn't exactly "handsome" in comparison to my Knight-Captain brothers. My good natured smile was only a quarter as convincing as Leaf or Earth's and I was nowhere near as good looking as Sun or Storm. I mean, how useful could a spy be if every man, woman, and child could remember them because of how pretty they looked? Naturally I was still good-looking, but just not in a very memorable way. Finally, after realizing I was serious, the servant answered my question.

"There a dinner in honor of General Eligius's return." The servant explained. "He's brought from his travels some devices he hopes the noblemen will be willing to purchase."

"Oh," I said with a disappointed tone. "Is that all?"

But by then the servant had already moved on to another task. I stood there a moment, thinking deeply, before someone yelled at me to start peeling potatoes and once that was done I was shoved to the back to...wash dishes.

Ugh.

I wasn't particularly bothered this time though. My natural curiosity had awakened from its short nap and I spent the rest of the day lost in deep thought. This country didn't seem particularly war-like, especially considering that they didn't worship the God of War. I would actually say the people here secretly worshiped a God of Greed. I only hoped it wasn't a God of Death as well.

I shook my head to get rid of such paranoid thoughts. My teacher would always scold me for over-thinking things. It wasn't up to the spy to piece things together. I just had to gather the pieces and see that the people who needed them got them. I wanted to hurry up and return to the Temple... but this new matter was something I couldn't let drop. I decided I would infiltrate the party and see for my own eyes what these "devices" could be.

I glanced at the wall at the contraption they called a "pendulum clock". It was supposed to tell you time, but I didn't really understand the need for it. They divided the day and night into a certain number hours, but they didn't bother to account for things like the lengthening of days in summer or the shortening of days in winter. I saw it as a rather inaccurate and not a very useful device.

_Sun dials were much more accurate... _I thought, but then added as an afterthought, _except when it rained, but it's not like it rained all the time._

_Rather than fiddle with silly devices that don't actually work, they should invest more time into practicing magic._

Although I had seen a lot of promising magical talent, I hadn't seen any master level mages, clerics, or priests. There were several carpenters and metal workers in the city, but the sick and injured had to rely on herbal remedies. I didn't know what I would do without my minor healing spells.

"Even a war priest is better than nothing," I sighed as I scrapped food off a dish. With the large number of "occupational hazards" (such as poisoning, stabbings, falling from great heights) that came with my work, I was greatly appreciative towards the cleric types. This country, however, had practically none. If I was sick or injured, at best I could expect to be ripped off by some downtown alchemist. Praise be to the God of Light.

…or not. I had momentarily forgotten that it was the fault of the God of Light's number one spokesperson that I was even in this country. I scowled suddenly as I remembered that before I could begin the long journey home, I needed to see what inventions that the General had brought with him. Maybe I could bring a few back to test out on Sun- No! I mean, "show Sun".

_I didn't mean it God of Light!_ I pleaded suddenly feeling very uneasy. As the time of the party grew closer and closer, my unease only grew until it became total dread._ Please don't let anything happen to me in a country with no healing clerics! Please don't let me die in a country that doesn't drink tea!_


	3. The 82nd Sun

**The 82nd Sun**

Knock Knock!

_Always!_ I wanted to scream furiously. _They __**always**__ interrupt me just after I've applied my facial mask!_

I tetchily set down a thick stack of documents and picked up a wet cloth to clean the rose-colored slime off my face. Knight-Captain Hell always joked that it had been a while since such a dutiful Sun Knight had been chosen, but I personally found paperwork to be a welcomed excuse to hide in my room all day. Besides, whatever work I couldn't finish on my own, I just passed it off to other people with a glowing smile on my face that no one could ever refuse. It was an arrangement that I liked very much.

However, the majority of this stack belonged to Knight-captain Hell. Judgment insisted I take care of it since I had (in his words) "purposely" sent Hell away on a long mission. And there was no arguing with Judgment. _Ever_.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

I grumbled before asking, "Which holy knight brother seeks to converse about the benevolence of-"

"It's me," a deep voice answered.

_Speaking of Knight-Captain Judgment_, I thought. "One moment, Sun is-"

Before I could say 'God of Light', Judgment interrupted me by stating very clearly, "Knight-Captain Hell has returned."

"Oh? He's back early." I mused thinking something was just a bit odd.

Usually Hell complained- …er, "reported" to me directly. It was rare for anyone other than myself or the members of the Hell Knight platoon to even see Knight-Captain Hell. The mission must have been more unpleasant than I had originally anticipated if Hell had decided to blatantly ignore me and use a messenger instead.

"He's been injured." Judgment explained. "He won't let anyone near the wound, but you or the Pope. I've already alerted the Pope-"

"I'll be right there!" It was my turn to interrupt. I quickly washed my face without bothering to be graceful about it if no one could see me.

Hell was injured. I didn't think it was serious… Hell had made it all the way back to the temple, after all. If the wound had truly been serious then I doubt Hell would have… even made it back.

But the uneasy feeling in my chest was growing by the second. The one who had ordered the reconnaissance was _me_. Whatever the outcome of my order was, it was still my responsibility. The Twelve Holy Knights are _my_ responsibility. Sometimes I really hated this job.

I opened the door to see that Judgment was the only one standing in the hall. He nodded signaling the "all clear" so I could dash to Hell's side without worrying about appearances.

Speaking of "appearances", there was a very specific reason why only myself and the Pope were allowed to treat Hell's body...

* * *

_You can't be the Sun Knight because you're a- _But before he could finish his sentence, the 81st Hell Knight was interrupted by the sound approaching footsteps.

He and his young student instantly moved to hide in the shadows of the corridor. As professional spies, revealing their identities was forbidden. Teacher and student both covered the lower half of their faces with black cloth-masks and waited quietly for the people to pass by.

After a few moments the duo relaxed. The grace of the approaching pairs of feet was a dead giveaway to their owners' identities.

_Knight-Captain Sun,_ the older Hell Knight moved into view and greeted his superior with great respect. His student was only a half beat behind and also bowed slightly in respect to the shining figures.

_Ah! It must be by the will of the benevolent God of Light for this unworthy servant to meet his fellow knight-brother, Hell, who has returned from out of the darkness and into the view of the light. _The 81st Sun Knight greeted. _Sun cannot help but ponder what could possibly be the God of Light's reasoning for this fortuitous meeting?  
_(Translation: Greetings Knight-Captain Hell, what brings you here?)

Knight-Captain Hell waited patiently for his Sun Knight to finish speaking before replying.

_I felt that it was time for the future Sun Knight to meet the future Hell Knight_, He explained. _Meanwhile I can brief you on the outcome of my last mission._

The Sun Knight nodded while smiling in apparent agreement and the two adults moved to another space so that the younger generation could get acquainted.

There was a very long and awkward silence between us.

Since only the top half of the future Hell Knight's face was visible, I could only see a head of thick auburn hair and a pair of big blue eyes shamelessly staring directly at me.

While trying not to let the other party I was feeling uncomfortable I asked, _Would it be possible for me to gaze upon my future knight-brother's face under the light?_

I wasn't as good as my teacher at adding "by the will of the God of Light" to every third word yet.

_No_, was the instant reply. _Only the Sun Knight and the Pope are allowed to know my identity._

_Ah, but I'm going to be the Sun Knight_, I said. _So it should be okay, right? _

_Then when you officially become the Sun Knight, you'll know my identity._ The young Hell Knight seemed very firm about the idea. I got the sudden impression that the future Hell Knight was a very serious person, so I tried changing the subject.

_Where did you go for your last mission?_

_We just came back from another continent_, the young Hell Knight replied without specifics. _The tea there was really good._

_Tea_? I wondered what the meaning behind that reply could mean. However, rather than dwelling on it I asked, _What were the countries like?_

_It was really strange,_ future Hell replied.

I waited a moment to let Hell explain without my urging. I was only killing time until teacher returned after all.

_Um… In.. In one country the people there think that cows, rats, and other odd things are sacred._ My future Hell Knight looked at me uncertainly as if expecting me not to believe it.

After seeing that I was still listening, the youngster continued…

_They say that their god is in everything..._ _or that everything is an aspect of their god._

After thinking a moment Hell's explanation began to flowed on…and on.

_It was a little bit confusing at first, but when I listened to their gurus... uh, that's what they call their priests... I think... Well I thought it was really interesting. I thought it was really cool to think of the whole world being part of the gods and that all the gods were really like arms and legs of a single god. I still wanted ask them a lot more questions. I was pretty sad to leave._

I was suddenly worried that I had miscalculated and rather than a serious Hell Knight I would be stuck with a serious AND chatty Hell Knight.

I put on my Sun Knight smile and scolded, _Oh, so do you not believe in the God of Light anymore? But you're going to be a Holy Knight pretty soon?_

The little Hell knight looked shocked for a minute and then began stammering, _W-well, I may have my doubts about the existence of gods a little...or maybe more than a little… Ah! …b-but I think this Temple suits me just fine! Please don't worry about that!_

I thought it was rather amusing to see my future Hell Knight suddenly shift from serious to flustered.

_Really? _I asked innocently. I wasn't done teasing yet because I was a little jealous that while this youngster was traveling the world, I would spend most of my prime years trapped working inside the temple. Hiding my mischievous aura I insisted with goodwill, _But if you don't believe in the God of Light, you shouldn't have to force yourself._

_I'm not forcing myself,_ future Hell promised while moving about somewhat panicked. _The clerics of the Church of the God of light are the best healers in the world!_

_Clerics? Who said anything about clerics?_

Hell's expression became so bright that I could even see it under the black mask. In a happy tone that almost sounded like church bells, my future Hell Knight said something I'll never forget.

_I think the power to heal is the most amazing power in the world! _Hell's beaming expression turned serious again when he said, _I still may have doubts… but if gods exist then I want to believe in a god like that. A god who can heal!_

Instantly after making such a bold declaration to the future _Sun Knight_, I got the feeling that the future Hell Knight started blushing uncontrollably under the mask. In order to hide embarrassment the young spy disappeared back into the shadows and, from what I could tell, was gone.

It was at that moment that both my teacher and the older Hell Knight returned chuckling.

_Future knight-brother Hell seems rather shy_, I said with a shrug, not bothering to dedicate that sentence to the God of Light.

My teacher me an amused grin and said, _You've been blessed with some truly talented future knights. _

Older Hell chimed in with, _Even though you'll find this out later I might as well tell you now._

I looked up at him confused, but I was all ears.

The older Hell Knight snickered a little and said in stern tone,_ You shouldn't really address my student as "brother" because it's actually "older sister"._

_EEEHHH?!_

* * *

That's right, Knight-Captain Hell is actually a woman (and she's really only a few months older than me, so I consider the "big sister" thing to be total crap).

There have been a handful of female knights before, but it's always been kept a secret. _Gloria_ Hell is the first female Hell Knight in over a hundred and fifty years. _She_ was chosen because her teacher needed help on a special mission. "Glo" showed great promise as not only a spy, but as a holy knight. A single girl proved more useful than any of the young boys at the Hell Knight selection. Still, even as a holy knight, she was still part of the "cold-hearted fraction" and wasn't very skilled at using healing magic.

When I arrived at Hell's room, several clerics were hovering anxiously around the person in question. They offered Hell fresh bandages, but when they got too close they were instantly shooed away. One or two were begging Hell to remove her armor, but she blatantly refused. I could understand why. Once that breastplate was removed, there would be a lot of explaining to do.

One of the clerics saw me. "Knight-Captain Sun!"

"Please let Sun take care of this matter." I said as politely as I could. "By the will of the God of Light, I will see that Hell receives treatment and the God of Light's blessings. If it is God of Light's intention, then Knight-Captain Hell should make a speedy recovery."

The clerics nodded and saw themselves out. Thankfully somebody remembered to close the door. I knelt down by Hell's bed started the incantation for 'Moderate Heal', but she roughly grabbed my arm to stop me.

"N-no! The-" She hissed clearly in pain. I noticed she was clutching her shoulder unnaturally.

As a holy knight and the temple's spy, Hell had a high tolerance for pain. I knew this wound had to be different. I observed that there was a _hole_ that went straight through her armor and underneath was packed full of blood covered bandages. For the sake of the patient I didn't lose my Sun Knight composure, but inwardly I began scowling darkly.

"Th-there's a musket ball in my-!" Hell managed to gasp. "You have to take it out first!"

This surprised me, but I instantly understood what I had to do. On Hell's belt was a leather pouch and in it was a small surgical kit. I removed all the tools and rolled up the pouch so she could place it between her teeth. I also noted with displeasure that the kit had previous bite marks on it already.

"Dammit, the Pope better get here soon!" I muttered under my breath and ripped off Hell's now useless shoulder plate. I needed to see the wound clearly.

Once I found the entry point I started cutting. The most delicate task was removing the iron ball that had embedded itself all the way to her bone. If I wasn't able to, then it was a very likely possibly that Hell's sword arm would be left impaired with a lifetime of pain even after the wound had "healed".

My biggest worry, though, was the large amount of blood covering Hell's shirt, pants, and now bed sheets. I'm no _Grisia Sun_. If Hell died from blood loss then there was no way for me to bring her back.

Finally, after what seemed like hours to me, I was able to remove the musket ball that had caused all this mess and began reapplying pressure to the wound.

"Ultimate Heal!" Someone behind me chanted.

I turned to see a veiled figure standing behind me. I had been so focused that I didn't notice that the Pope had indeed arrived just in time. I released a long breath of relief. The ordeal was, for the most part, over.

"By the will of the God of Light you're Holiness, is as timely as ever."

I exchanged rushed formalities with the Pope (mentioning the God of Light nine times), explained what I knew of the situation (while dedicating it to the will of the God of Light forty times) , and promised to give a formal report in private later (because even the Pope can only so much "benevolence from the God of Light").

The sound of light snoring told me that Hell had already began the first step of resting and recovering leaving the Pope and myself to tidy up the room a bit and collect all the blood stained items. Once this was done we left the patient alone to rest for the remainder of the evening.

Tomorrow, however, I would discover who had dared to touch one of my holy knights and show them just how "merciful" the God of Light could be.


	4. The Power of Tea

**The Power of Tea**

Just before dawn broke I returned to Knight-Captain Hell's room armed with a cup of her favorite tea. I knocked on Hell's door once, waited three seconds and then knocked once more to signal that I was alone. When there was no answer I opened the door just in time to see my "stoic" Hell Knight trying to escape out the window.

"…Could it be that Knight-Captain Hell feels too confined in this room and seeks to reflect on the mercy of the God of Light elsewhere?" I asked with a heavenly smile. Although I couldn't see her face I suspected that as soon as I said the word "mercy" a terrified expression crossed Hell's face. Her whole body had gone stiff.

Fortunately Hell didn't even try to make up an excuse. She just stared at me guiltily for a moment, but once she caught a whiff of the steaming cup- Knight-Captain Hell's mood picked up immediately. She climbed away from the window and obediently sat back down on the bed like a good patient.

_Never underestimate the power of tea_, I reminded myself before grudgingly handing her the cup.

Without even waiting for the water to cool she took a nice long sip. Then looking at me reproachfully Hell whined, "It's not strong enough! And you're supposed to _simmer_ the water, not boil it!"

And to save you, dear reader, the trouble of trying to decipher my very elaborate speech pattern I'll omit the "God of Light" from my next few sentences. Hell, however, was not so lucky and had to wait quietly for me to finish **Every. Single. Word.** And then try decode their meaning.

"(Tell me what happened)." I ordered irritably.

Hell looked at me and hesitated. I wasn't sure at first if this was because she didn't know what I had said or if she just didn't want to answer.

"I was careless." She finally replied nonchalantly.

I took a few deep breaths to keep my temper in check and waited. The hole in her shoulder may have been mended, but holy magic doesn't work as well on the ego. I suspected Hell's pride had taken an even nastier blow. Normally she was a _very_ competent and _careful_ spy. I've met very few people in my lifetime who are as serious about their occupation as Knight-Captain Hell.

Knight-Captain Hell can usually manage to mend her occupational bumps, scraps, cuts, stab wounds, twisted ankles, and occasional food poisoning herself. This was only the _second_ time that I've had to personally patch her up. The first time was much, much worse, but for the sake of my sanity I've all but blocked the incident from my memory. Not even Judgment would dare to ever bring _that_ "thing" up again.

"(How did you make it back to the temple)?" I asked with genuine curiosity this time. Even by the fastest ship it would have taken her several _months_ to return to the continent.

"Teleportation circle," she explained mournfully.

_Ah, that would make sense. _I chastised myself for not realizing the possibility. I had just reminded myself only moments earlier how 'competent and careful' the Church's top spy was.

"It was supposed to be used as a 'last resort' to get a 'final message' to the church..." Hell explained sorrowfully. "But now none of the future Hell Knights will be able to use it..."

_Hey__, d__on't forget that __**you're**__ a Hell Knight as well! _ I wanted to remind her. I had conveniently forgotten that she had "that" mentality as well. I suppressed the urge to ruthlessly beat "that" habit out of her with the chair I was sitting on because I knew it was useless. Instead I sighed inwardly and muttered under my breath, "That iron ball I removed looked like a pretty clear message to me."

Muskets could be deadly, but they weren't exactly popular among the masses. I was, however, very glad to hear that I wouldn't have to order Judgment confiscate all the guns in town. Muskets could only fire one shot at a time and then it took a minute and a half to two minutes for the average person to reload. Granted that a fully trained soldier could fire at least three rounds a minute, but then they still _missed_ their intended targets completely. Muskets were also difficult to make in bulk, even harder to fix when damaged, and black powder was rather expensive on this side of the world.

Personally I'd recommend just throwing rocks. At least then you could actually _hit_ what you were aiming for.

The only way I knew how to "effectively" use muskets was to line up a firing squad into three rows and volley shots at the (hopefully stationary) enemy. A single musket couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but an _army_ of them did have a decent advantage over a knight cavalry. As Knight-Captain Hell had inadvertently demonstrated, a musket ball could, in fact, easily pierce through armor like butter- Unless, of course, it happened to be a _holy_ knight cavalry.

With a just few holy spells (which was not exactly Hell's forte) in place the musket balls would just bounce off! I'm fairly certain that a strong battle aura would also have a similar effect. In _other_ countries I suppose it wasn't uncommon for royal families or wealthy nobles to have a special musketeer platoon among their guards. But the way most people on _this_ continent see it is that even a novice mage could fire a spell from each hand AND nearly always hit their target without needing to "reload".

To have been hit just so in the shoulder Hell must have ran into a whole army, but nobody -especially the Church's number one spy/assassin- was _that_ stupid. I knew Hell's holy spells were weak and I wasn't entirely sure about the strength of her battle aura because she rarely used it. Battle aura was conspicuous and spy/assassins didn't need it as long as they had the element of surprise.

Therefore the next question I asked was even more serious. "Who shot you?"

"Oh, just a hired guard." Hell looked down in shame for a moment, but then she remembered something important.

In a very small voice as if she was speaking to herself more than me Hell explained, "I would say it was a lucky shot…"

_Meaning that "just a guard" deserved a marksmen's medal_, I mentally rolled my eyes.

"…But the gun barrel was shorter than any other model I've seen." A dark expression crossed her face. "They've been improved for accuracy."

"Even against mages?" I asked taken aback.

"The easiest way to kill a mage is to get them before they finish their incantation," Hell reminded me. "If this 'thing' leads to a war-"

"It's not going to."

"But-"

I sighed inwardly again. I did that a lot when I conversed with Knight-Captain Hell. Conspiracy-nut traits came with her job description.

"We're not dealing with one nation against another, Knight-Captain Hell." I told her patiently. "They're only merchants. Even if they had the aid of gods, how could they possibly fight a war in another land?"

"Merchants of _death_,Knight-Captain Sun," Hell responded acidly. "What makes them any different from a king? They have money and they have power. All they have to do is buy an army and they'll be certain to get their way."

"…I can speak about this matter to the Prime Minister." I suggested.

"No need." She shook her head. "Several key members of parliament are already accepting 'harmless merchant' bribes."

"….Fine. What's your recommendation?"

"When the representative from the trading company arrives," Hell replied very seriously. "Serve him bad food. They won't want to invade us if they think we have terrible cuisine."

"…" _Had it been anyone else who had just said that to me… _After a long period of silence Hell looked at me blankly.

"What?" she asked perplexed as to why I hadn't given a response.

"I'm quite certain not everyone in this world thinks travel is _only_ about the food." I replied very carefully with all the graces that the God of Light was willing to spare me.

"Of course," Hell nodded unperturbed. "Travel is all about wine, women, _and_ food. Why else would anyone want to leave the comforts of their own country?"

"…I'll see what I can do." I promised. "Meanwhile you're ordered to observe six days of total bed rest."

Knight-captain Hell was clearly not happy about this order and only responded with a single nod. However, I was satisfied with the information I had received. Hell would certainly obey my last order so I picked up the dishes and prepared to leave the room.

With a blur of unexpected inhuman speed Knight-captain Hell grabbed my sleeve. I looked down at her in confusion wondering if I had forgotten anything.

"…Did you think I wouldn't notice?" she asked in a low and deadly tone that made my hair on end. It must have been a skill she had "secretly" picked up from Knight-captain Judgment because I didn't know she could do that. She tightened her grip on my sleeve and I could see her fist shaking slightly. "That scent… you…"

_Uh oh._

With a dark aura that could rival a death knight's my "subordinate" roared at me, "You used _my_ best tea for your BATH WATER?!"

Sensing that my life was in great peril I carefully freed myself form her grip and backed up very slowly.

"Um. Healer's fee?" I suggested lightly. I continued to inch myself closer to the door. While stammering and trying to appear as good-natured as Knight-Captain Earth I said, "I-it d-does w-wonders for my skin whitening- urk!"

I could see a faint battle aura surrounding Hell.

To cover up my slip of the tongue I quickly explained, "I-I mean it's so refreshing! It's almost like I'm feeling the silky smooth warm of God of Light himself! The God of Light teaches us that kindness comes in many forms and for 'Brother' Hell I believe kindness comes in the form of Hells appreciation for the fine tradition of tea and the great respect that is shown to the cultures that make it. Sun couldn't help but with wish to gain a deeper understanding of Brother Hell's method of celebrating the teachings-"

At last I reached behind and felt the wooden door with my hand.

_I'm saved!_

"Remember that bed rest was an order!" I reminded before making my escape.

* * *

Although I would never blatantly disobey an order from Knight-Captain Sun, I did make it a point to bend the rules a teeny bit. After all, he hadn't specified _which_ bed I should be resting in. I donned on one of my many disguises and headed into town.

At first I had wanted to visit my favorite bakery and the very handsome son the worked there, but a glance at my ten months worth of mail made me quickly change my mind. There was a wedding invitation among the stack of letters. The invitation was six months old.

Feeling even more dejected I had to settle for a trip to the candy shop for a handful of the sickest-sweetest lollipops I could find. The expense cost me the last of my month's pay, but it was worth it. Not because I had a fondness for lollipops, of course. I hated sweet foods with a passion. The candy wasn't for me.

After making sure that I wouldn't be spotted by anyone, especially my boss, I crept to a rather shady looking part of town to the shadiest and creepiest house I had ever seen. The wood was warped and rotting, the door hinges were rusted shut making it very difficult to open, and inside was so dark and dank that if the city inspector knew about it he would order the place condemned. No one had lived there in a long time... that is, if you used the traditional definition of "living".

Even though I couldn't send dark auras very well I shivered reflexively. My instincts told me that I shouldn't be there. My instincts warned me that it was dangerous and I couldn't think of a single good reason for me to even be there.

Well... there was half of a good reason. I knew Knight-Captain wouldn't set foot in the place for a while. Hiding from my boss was a sorry excuse, but unfortunately there weren't any dragon dens left for me to hide in so this was my next best bet.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt something creep up behind me. The sense of danger grew and grew. My knees shook and I swallowed uneasily. Glancing down at my foot I saw "it" and screamed.


	5. The Necromancer and the Spy

**The Necromancer and the Spy**

"STOP THAT RACKET!" a voice from the darkness demanded. "It's hurting my ears!"

"B-But!" I wailed. "It's a spider! A SPIDER! You know I _hate_ those things!" Just the sight of the little eight-legged bug was enough to make my skin crawl. I was fine with snakes, lizards, frogs, worms, needles, the undead, ANYTHING except spiders. I was able to tolerate them when I was working, but otherwise…

"Oh for death's sake!" I heard the voice grumble. "My servant will get rid of it. Wait just a moment…"

There were more shuffling sounds and finally the room lit up. I saw at last what the building's interior really looked like without its veil of magic. It was what I considered to be the scariest place on earth.

Everything was _pink_! Pink was my least favorite color just like sweet was my least favorite flavor! And worst of all, the home's inhabitant was as a short, teenage girl that looked as cutesy as a doll. Pink, sweets, cutesy and dolls, with so many things that I hate most in the world I knew Knight-Captain Sun wouldn't think look for me here in a million years!

It was the perfect hiding place and one that I used regularly.

I stared openly at the spider-removing servant so that my eyes could recover from the shock of a pinkness overload. After being away for more than ten months I had lost my immunity. I would take me _weeks_ to build up resistance again. The servant was quite handsome looking… except for the fact that he was dead. I wasn't exactly "comfortable" with the idea of undead creatures either, but it was still better than…ugh! _Pink_.

"With nobody coming to visit me for a while," the master of the house complained. "I was worried that the church had forgotten about me. Are you acting as ambassador, _cleric_?"

"Oh, uh…" I flushed embarrassed and glanced down at the white robes I was wearing. "I left behind most of my luggage on my last trip." The master of the house raised an eye brow curiously and I rubbed my neck sheepishly in response.

To clarify I explained,"It was either this or a bar-maid disguise."

The mental image made the master of the house giggle. I quickly handed over the bouquet of lollipops I had brought. Once the peace offering had been given she immediately ordered her undead servant to set up a pink (ugh!) tea set.

Aside from the obvious differences between us the home's occupant and I got along rather swimmingly. Our favorite subject of conversation was bashing on the current Sun Knight, of course, but we also liked to talk about other things. Whenever I came over to visit I would bring either candy or sweets from my (former) favorite bakery and she would bring out the tea she had been safe guarding for me.

Never underestimate the power of tea. Although I felt extremely uncomfortable sharing a tea set with a "young looking" woman and her plush toys, I knew it was a better deal than slinking around the church shadows all day. At least this way I could have an intelligible conversation instead of just replying with three dots to everything that was, in a way, even harder for my comrades to decipher than Knight-Captain Sun's outrageous speeches.

"Knight-Captain Sun hasn't come by recently either?" I asked with some doubt in my voice. Using the undead as punching bags was supposed to be his main way to relieve his work-related stress. The master of the house shook her head with a pout and I sighed.

"He's shirking on his responsibilities again." I dropped my eyes to glare coldly at the hot beverage in my hands. It could only mean one thing. "He must have a new _girlfriend_."

"You don't know?" The master of the house asked in shock.

It was my turn to shake my head in reply and pout. My job was to know such things after all. Anything that posed a threat to the image of the Sun Knight or the Church was part of "my job". Unfortunately Knight-Captain Sun didn't make things easy for me. It was something of a tradition actually because I seem to remember my predecessor complaining about the exact same thing.

_Dammit! Why can't he just resign himself to be a church hermit?!_ I sent an inquisitive thought in a skyward direction and got the distinct impression that the complainthad been openly ignored. I sighed again and informed my host, "After I hid his wine, he sent me to the other continent for ten months."This was met with murmurs of sympathy.

"Now that I think about it, is that a new servant? Your last one had green eyes… I think." I commented lightly to change the subject.

"Sun destroyed my last one six weeks ago," my host replied mournfully. "He has such a bad temper."

We both groaned at the same time and then began giggling helplessly.

It was always like this. We would spend a few minutes getting all the "formalities" out of the way (meaning we mutually complained about Sun) and then the subject would change to another direction. I would tell her about church gossip and news from outside the city and she would give me a thorough history lesson about the continent and how it had changed over the centuries. Under any other circumstances I would be so bold as to call us "friends".

But we couldn't really be friends. This arrangement was just a convenience so I could keep an eye on the church's on-call necromancer. I used the arrangement for my own convenience, though. As a spy it was very hard for me to maintain any long-term relationships (such as with the young baker I had been flirting with off and on between missions). The necromancer had agreed to the bargain because I kept her from "being bored" all the time and a bored necromancer was a dangerous one.

There were a few conditions to the arrangement, however. The first and for most was that Knight-Captain Sun must never find out about it. Secondly, even though we knew each other's names we wouldn't use them. This was mostly for my sake so that I didn't forget that we weren't really friends. Additionally, no matter what, the "girl-time" we shared had to be _fun_. That was the rule that she imposed on me. I had agreed wholeheartedly since I was no match for the necromancer anyway and it gave me a safe zone to be "myself".

Out of all the holy knight positions mine took the least amount of "acting" since I only had to do so on missions, didn't need to attend public events, and was already pretty aloof from the get-go, but I still needed a break now and then. Plus I was a still a girl after all, even if I did swear an oath to serve the God of Light and the church. Luckily nobody has asked me to give up tea parties yet.

Once the tea was finished my necromancer "friend" and I began playing dress up. Being very… ah,"experienced" the necromancer had a whole stock of clothing, weapons, and strange magical artifacts for us to play with. I tried to say away from anything too weird, but that was hard to do when you agreed to be a necromancer's dress up doll for a day. I used the time as a distraction to avoid thinking about more serious things (like the threat of invasion from another country). I also secretly enjoyed dressing up as a _prince _(not a princess) and acting out bits from my favorite stories.

"I also have _this_ if you want to try it on," the necromancer said slyly and held up a vintage Sun Knight uniform.

"You want me to comeback as a death knight, don't you?" I grinned. She knew me and my not-so-secret desire a little too well. "Knight-Captain Sun won't bring you lollipops anymore if I do."

The girly necromancer stuck out her bottom lip before proclaiming,"Then you'll just have to get them for me!"

I laughed, but it wasn't sincere. I had come very close to death once before. After "that" incident, even though he pretended he didn't, Knight-Captain Sun began treating me differently. I hated it. More than anything I wanted things to go back to the way they were before. I wanted us to fight like siblings again. I wanted him to send me on _real_ missions again rather than those long and boring scouting outings. If it was just reconnaissance then I had people who could do that for me. I didn't have to travel abroad personally unless Knight-Captain Sun ordered me to.

If a close call like "that" had affected Knight-Captain Sun so badly then coming back as an undead creature would just be too cruel. I could never do that to my Captain. Besides, as an undead creature I wouldn't be able to enjoy tea like I do. Even if the God of Light himself ordered me to I would _never_ be able to give up tea.

As soon as I thought that, however, I felt a shiver run up my spine.

My undead host and I shot looks towards the front door. A grin slid across her face and mine went white as a sheet. It seemed like Knight-Captain Sun hadn't found a new "stress reliever" after all, but his timing was a poor as ever. I was wearing a formal ballroom dress that would make escaping out the back window very difficult. I glanced at my host and panicked.

"You could hide in here!" My host pointed to a large wardrobe.

"Wait! What about-?"I started to ask, but was interrupted when she shoved me in the wardrobe. I hissed in warning, "What about my aura?!"

"Don't worry," my host reassured me. "He won't know you're here. Then afterwards we can continue playing!"

_Oh, no. _I slumped down and tried to settle my flustered heart. _If Knight-Captain Sun found me here…_

A sick feeling started to grow in my stomach and began moving to the rest of my body. To my great shame I was trembling. If I had my druthers I'd rather fight a dragon. Yes, a dragon right then would definitely be my preference. Knight-Captain Sun was far scarier than a dragon.

_…I think._ I corrected myself.

I hadn't exactly seen a dragon before so I couldn't say for sure. Nobody had seen a dragon in hundreds of years. I could have been mistaken in thinking that. I quietly continued the debate on Sun vs. a dragon while taking slow, even breaths to clear my head.

It worked.

_It's alright_, I told myself. _I am still (technically) in disguise_.

If worse came to worse I could just pretend to be a confused maiden. I told myself that I could just play it off as being the victim, pretending not to know what was going on or how I got there. An undead creature kidnapping a beautiful… well, reasonably attractive young lady wasn't _that_ farfetched-

Except, I knew by just by instinct that it wouldn't work.

_He might not be a "legendary" Sun Knight,_ I reminded myself. _But there's really no such thing as an "ordinary" Sun Knight._

As a member of the "cruel hearted" fraction I couldn't sense the dark magic of the house or truly understand magic theory, but even if my hunch about magic was right (and my host couldeasily hide my faint holy aura) I knew I would be discovered momentarily regardless. I wouldn't credit this ability to magic or skill, but Knight-Captain Sun has a gift for arriving the moment I get into trouble. I don't mean real trouble. I mean that troublesome trouble that will earn me detention for a week. Like when I'm conspiring with necromancers for instance.

And not just any necromancer; I mean "that" necromancer. The very same necromancer that was responsible for "that" incident.

"What are you hiding?" I heard Knight-Captain Sun ask in a suspicious tone.

My heart jumped. His tone unfortunately did **not** sound like a husband who had just walked in on his wife having an affair. There was genuine animosity in his voice. Well, my host was an undead creature and the very thing the "perfect" Sun Knight was supposed to hate most in the world. However, he was using such a tone on the necromancer specifically hired by the _church_. I knew nothing good would come of _that_.

"I'm not hiding anything!" The master of the house protested. "Hey! Don't just go through a girl's things as you please! Hey!" But when Knight-Captain Sun opened the wardrobe it was already empty.

With great difficulty I had managed to slip out the window while only tearing the dress a little bit. It was later in the evening than I expected which would make my trip back to the Holy Temple easier. As I made my mad dash up to the city roof tops (a place nobody ever bothered to look for suspicious activity), there was a brilliant flash of holy light behind me coming from the necromancer's house. I paused briefly, but I couldn't see anything.

I sighed yet again.

Knight-Captain Sun did have a nasty temper. I would have to apologize "on his behalf" later. It would be significantly "troublesome" if the church didn't have the use of its on-call necromancer. I just hoped that she wouldn't ask me to replace her undead servant. Maybe she would let me off if I just gave her a list of possible candidates based on the coroner's lists? But somehow I didn't think that was very likely.

Since it was dark enough that I wouldn't be noticed by the casual observer I slowed my pace to a walk. This way I could enjoy the sights of the city I called "home". After hundreds and hundreds of years the capital had gown and changed over time. It was very different from what it had been like in the history books, but I cherished it.

The capital was a fairly average-sized for a city. There were far bigger ones scattered across the country, but this was the _capital_. The capital was where the laws were made, where parliament wasted taxpayer money, where the royal family still acted as hosts to foreign diplomats, and it was where the Holy Temple resided. No matter where they were, the citizens of this country always looked to the capital for leadership and hope. I was happy to be a small part of that. I always wished I could do more, but being the church's eyes and ears was enough.

Speaking of eyes and ears, I suddenly remembered that I needed to check on my spy network. Naturally I had absolute faith in my vice-captain being able to manage without me (hence why he was picked in the first place), but I would feel a lot better about things if I did a thorough check myself.

However, I hadn't forgotten that I had been ordered to take a leave for proper bed rest-

_But how could I possible rest when there was so much I still had to do? _I thought to myself worriedly.

Still, Knight-Captain Sun had given me a direct order and if I failed to carry it out I wouldn't be allowed to see the light of day for a very, very long time. I decided to leave the major things to my vice-captain a little bit longer. In the meantime I couldn't possibly remain confined in my quarters without going absolutely insane.

There was only one place I could go (now that my "safe zone" had been raided). The list of places I'd rather be than cooped up in my room were, in order: a dragon's lair, a necromancer's house, and the cleric's school located adjacent to the church.

The moment I arrived back at the Holy Temple I freed myself form the ballroom dress and donned my spare cleric's disguise. So many people came from all over the world to become clerics at the Sanctuary of Light that I could blend in without anyone being the wiser. It was one of my more versatile disguise and easy to get a hold of disguises. If it wasn't for the fact that my healing abilities royally **sucked** (thankfully I've never had to do more than cast minor heal) I could quite easily pass as a cleric.

The cleric school's library was open all day and all night to give the students every possible opportunity to study, but few actually did. With the exception of the half asleep librarian's assistant watching the front desk the library was completely empty. I suspected that most of the text books were resting on end tables in the dorms collecting dust.

"It's so lonely…" I whispered and caught myself. _Lonely? Hadn't I always preferred the peaceful company of books? _

I wasn't dwelling on thoughts about the young baker I fancied nor was I trying to decide if dropping by so far after the wedding would be rude. I stuck with my subtle denial and decided Sun was right. I needed rest. I have been shot, right? _One could only imagine what kind of mental trauma that created._

I continued scolding myself for pushing my body and mind too hard not even a day after I had recovered. I left the library and resigned myself to spending some quality time with my bed sheets. I picked up a few historical volumes to keep me company and made my way out to the ornate garden that I used as a shortcut to get back to my room. I muttered some complaints about how my recovery speed was absolutely pitiful and unfortunately because of that I wasn't looking were I was going.

I had failed to consider the possibility that the garden's layout may have been altered in the time I was away making my picture-like memory of it obsolete. It was so dark that I walked right into a pillar that I was very sure hadn't been there ten months earlier. As a result I fell backwards in surprise dropping my stack of books in the process.

"Ouch!" I quickly cast minor heal so that my delicate face wouldn't bruise. "Who puts a pillar there anyway?"

Unexpectedly the "pillar" began to move. I blinked and froze. _What shady character besides me would be out this late at night? _

"Ah I'm terribly sorry, miss!" A gentle voice said in alarm. I felt a calloused hand reach for mine and help me back to my feet. My eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness and I could make out a male figure.

_Wait… these callouses…_ I realized something alarming and let go of the gentleman's hands quickly. I needed to leave _immediately_. In a very girlish voice I stuttered, "I-I'm alright. P-please pay me no mind… Ah! My books!"

"Here, allow me-" the gentleman spoke an incantation and a flash of holy light gave us something to see by. This ability not only revealed the identity of the gentleman in question, it also proved my hunch correct. The calloused hands I had felt belonged to a skilled archer. Fortunately my hood was up so I remained unrecognizedby none other than-

"Oh! Leaf Knight! I'm s-sorry!" I stammered helplessly but was thinking more along the lines of, _and what scandalous things are the good guys doing this time of night that I'll have to cover up later? Hmmm?_

Fortunately Knight-Captain Leaf was genuinely a good guy for the most part, but everybody has their quirks. Knight-Captain Sun is a womanizer; Knight-Captain Storm has a secret gambling addiction-

_And if anybody says that I have a tea addiction I'll sock them in the face! I need it to stay awake and clean up the messes that these guys make!_

Knight-Captain Leaf handed me the books and I pretended to shyly back away. I wore a mask most of the time, but it didn't hurt to be careful. After all, the biggest scandal in the church was _me_! If the continent found out that there was a woman (who is not a cleric) working so closely with a group of some of the most beautiful men in the country it would make the entire female population form girls to grannies hate me. I'd get a constant stream of hate mail, death threats, and ballads dedicated to me (conveniently) heroically dying as a young virgin.

_I love my job, dammit! _I declared with great passion in a skyward direction. _Even I'm not immune to the beauty that surrounds me. Strong, well-built men living by the faith in their god and by the sword! How dare Knight-Captain Sun order me to live without my sparkly eye-candy for ten months?_

A pair of warm hands wrapped around my clenched fist and I could feel myself being dragged somewhere. Knight-Captain Leaf was pulling me towards the temple.

"Umm…" I started to ask.

"I'm so relieved!" Knight-Captain Leaf flashed me a smile. "I didn't think any of the clerics would be awake this hour, but the matter is most urgent. I don't think it can wait until morning."

_Say what?_ My expression and mind went totally blank in confusion.

"Judgment is really scary, so I couldn't refuse his request. I'm so glad I found a cleric right away!" Knight-Captain Leaf pulled me a little faster now. "We should hurry; it's not good to keep Knight-Captain Judgment waiting!"

"Judgment?! But wait…" I wanted to shout in warning, but it was useless.

_But I'm not a cleric! I'm a holy knight! _


	6. The Feast

**The Feast**

The representative from the other continent arrived far more quickly than anyone had anticipated (meaning the newspapers could finally write about something else besides midnight grave robbing mysteries). The journey that had taken Knight-Captain Hell ten months to complete, the travelers finished in six weeks. As was customary our king gave the envoy (which we pretended to know nothing about) a warm reception. The royal family treated the representative and his companions as guests and saw to their every worldly need because that was _all_ the royal family could do. Once the welcome party was in full swing it would be up to the prime minister and myself to handle all the "delicate" matters and negotiations.

I had to attend as the representative of the church. I brought Leaf Knight, Earth Knight, and Storm Knight along to accompany me, but (much to my chagrin) I still had to do most of the talking. I doubted that the company representative was prepared for the likes of the legendary Sun Knight. As the whole content knew- the Sun Knight was perfect, thinks only about the God of Light, and manages to attribute every elegant sentence to the God of Light. Hell had warned me that such a display would not have the same effect on the guests as it did the people on this continent. At best the merchants would think that ours was some backwater religion. I had to be the one to prove to them otherwise.

To have arrived so quickly the company representative and his people had used a machine. Personally I found Hell's description of the device to be absolutely ludicrous, but the evidence had appeared for the whole country to see.

"You're telling me that you can make ships sale against the winds and tides with fire? Fires burning under their decks?" The king asked the company representative with the exact same expression I had worn when I first heard the news from Knight-Captain Hell.

Being stripped of most of their governing power had done the royal family some good. Royal assignations were at an all time low the past few centuries. The current king was in his early fifties and still in good health and quite popular with the masses. I was on pretty good terms with him myself.

"What does the church think of this, Sun Knight?" The prime minister asked me knowing full well that the church was already informed about the matter. The prime minister was about ten years younger than the king and used hair dye to cover up the gray that kept popping up from his scalp. I suspected a great many of those gray hairs were caused by Knight-Captain Hell. The prime minister was her "favorite" player in the political chess game and by favorite I mean he was the person Knight-Captain Hell hated the most, but had to rely on the most. His spy network was second only to hers and that's because she used his own men against him.

"Hmm?" I feigned an expression of pleasant surprise at the question. "Sun cannot express the wishes of the Pope or the church as a whole. Sun merely serves the will of the God of Light."

I then replied with something very elaborate in praise to the God of Light for the safe arrival of such "blessed news". A machine that could help "spread the word of the God of Light" and bring our great countries together in harmony was surely the "will of the God of Light". This of course was merely my "humble opinion". Although my "humble opinion" had taken a full five minutes to finish and nobody had the decency to interrupt me!

The company representative, Arthur Michaelson, stared at me perplexed. The prime minister simply nodded in agreement when Earth whispered a short translation: If the machine could be used for the benefit of the church then there were no objections on our side.

"It would make travel by sea much easier," the prime minister agreed to that point, but he wasn't completely convinced. "I don't think we would find much use for it unless there was a way to speed up land travel."

"Oh, but there is!" Representative Arthur interjected. "We have a machine that can travel faster than a horse's top speed for days without stopping."He motioned one of his companions forward and the servant produced a set of blue prints.

After giving a thorough explanation of how the machine worked Arthur told us, "It's called a locomotive."

I was intrigued by the idea in spite of myself. It would take some time to lay out the tracks, but once in place the locomotive would allow for easy travel between cities, possibly even counties. Several weeks of travel would be shortened to mere days. The implications for the church alone were unimaginable and then once the conveniences for commerce were taken into account…

I lowered my gaze slightly to hide the dark expression showing in my eyes. Hell was right. This _was_ something worth killing for. I stared at Arthur carefully. He was a merchant and knew how to behave himself under the eyes of important people. He was old enough to look experienced but young enough to appear ambitious. He did not, however, look at all trustworthy. By building the tracks and buying up the land from nobles the company could make several fortunes charging for this speedy means of transport. That didn't seem fair at all.

Thus the meeting went exactly as I had expected. The prime minister was a smart man and knew what the foreign company wanted (namely to bleed us dry and then toss the empty husk aside). I had warned him beforehand that they probably had the military might to back up whatever deal they were hoping to make. At the same time they were also proposing similar deals to other countries as well. What the representative didn't know was that we had already prepared a counter measure. After hours of informal negotiation the representative finally made a mistake.

He openly _threatened_ the prime minister suggesting that his government would aid in whatever plans they saw fit. Both the king and I took great pleasure in watching the prime minister's face turn bright red, but before he could retort I intervened.

"Sun begs for Master Arthur's forgiveness for his ignorance, but Master Arthur is what is known as a 'gentleman' correct?" I asked pleasantly. The man nodded slowly and I gave him my best trademark Sun-smile. "Then perhaps we can settle this debate in a sportsman like manner. I believe it is customary in your country, as it is in ours, to settle such disputes with a duel?"

"Are you issuing me a challenge?" Arthur showed great interest and began looking at me up and down curiously. If he was mistaking me for a mere frop, he would learn from his mistake very quickly. If I thought it would end these tiring matters quickly I would fight him and each of the men he had brought until I had sliced off both their kneecaps and sent them fleeing back to their country on their "fast ships".

But that wasn't enough. I didn't want these middlemen just to _fear_ us. I wanted to totally _embarrass_ them. I hadn't forgotten what they had done to my special spy and it's not my fault that they hadn't realized their error. The God of Light may forgive their sins, but I didn't have to.

I could see the prime minister giving me a warning glance, but I ignored him. Arthur had signaled to a personal bodyguard and asked if I had a preference for swords or something with a little more "bang for the buck". My mouth twitched.

"Oh, Sun didn't mean that Sun would be the one dueling you personally." I explained pleasantly. Leaf nodded when he caught my eye and moved to get everyone in position. "You see, in this country with the protection of the God of Light even our _clerics_ would be more than able to hold their own in combat."

"Clerics?" Arthur, the prime minister, and the king muttered the word in confusion at the same time.

Just then Leaf carefully coxed forward a female cleric we had "conveniently" brought with us from the temple. Leaf had assured me that the secret sword lessons with Judgment had been a success and the young lady was ready for her fifteen minutes of fame. Storm borrowed a dueling saber (the same kind that the guests used) and passed it off to the cleric who looked at it curiously.

"You want me to duel a woman?" the guard seemed shocked at the prospect. I didn't know why he sounded so shocked. The many of the worshipers of the God of War are women and they are not the kind of people I'd like to meet in a dark alley.

_The back room of a dark inn was another matter_, I amended to myself slyly. _Not that I have any experience in that. _

I was worried about the cleric, though. If she had a decent figure it was concealed under some very cumbersome looking robes. I could see in her eyes that she was worried and unsure about the situation, but I trusted that Judgment had done the job justice.

"I-it's alright if you're unwilling, sir…" The cleric stammered.

_Uh, oh._ I hoped she wasn't the kind of person to back out at the last minute. The guard who was supposed to duel her relaxed.

"I wouldn't want to injury you," the cleric finished in an almost inaudible voice.

_Wow, that struck a nerve. _I've never seen a man's face turn so purple so quickly.

The bodyguard quickly drew his own saber and tossed the scabbard aside recklessly. The cleric squeaked as the sword halted just before her nose and the guard replied, "I'll fight you _woman_ and any man thereafter."

_I was hoping he'd say that._ I grinned secretly.

Sensing that it was pointless to intervene the king went along with our little charade and cleared room for the two to duel. He also agreed to serve as a judge. Even if there were underhanded tricks at play there was no one who would dare question a king. He looked worriedly at the cleric as she fumbled with the sword a bit and nearly tripped over her robes.

I was about to complain to Leaf about over acting when the girl suddenly straitened herself up. She tied up her robes decidedly so they wouldn't be a hindrance and then tested her mobility briefly. Although her footing wasn't correct she held the sword out at full length without any difficulty at all.

_She has a steady hand_, I noticed that the blade didn't tremble one bit. _I'll grant her that._

Her opponent likewise twitched. I wondered if he sensed the same thing I did. If I were dueling the girl I would take her seriously. She had a certain _aura_ about her that made her look very ominous.

_Like a sleeping dragon? _I thought suddenly. _But why would I suddenly think that?_

As soon as I came to that realization, however, the duel was over. My stunned blink was synchronized with everyone else. The moment the king had called "go" the guard had rushed forward with the intent to knock the girl's blade out of her hand. There was an audible CLANG! and it was _his_ blade that went flying and nearly _impaled_ his superior. The cleric dropped her sword and looked terribly distraught.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried in dismay. "Y-you startled me and I-"

She moved forward and cast a minor healing spell on her opponent's hand to keep it from turning. The guard was visibly stunned. I was stunned. I looked at Leaf who also looked surprised. Then we all looked over at the king who cleared his throat.

"Um, young lady," The king addressed the cleric in a slightly impatient tone. "Since you dropped your sword as well, I cannot declare you the winner. Both of you will need to return to your starting points."

"Oh," the cleric said in a small voice. She obeyed the order sheepishly.

I studied the cleric thoughtfully. My plan was moving along almost a little too well. In regards to swordsmanship among the Twelve Holy Knights Judgment is traditionally the strongest. It had only made sense to call on him to do the cleric's crash course. I was impressed on what he had accomplished in such a short time.

Actually, most of the "cold-hearted" fraction is skilled with blades and the "warm-hearted" fraction is more formidable when it comes to holy spells and special abilities. Occasionally, though, there will be an exception to this rule. For example this generation's Moon Knight is almost decent when it comes to holy magic and this generation's Cloud Knight is rumored to think more with his blade than with his head. However, because he _is_ the Cloud Knight it's almost impossible to prove the rumor.

"Hold!" The king ordered. I since I had been lost in my own thoughts I almost forgot about the duel.

The cleric stepped back and massaged her right arm. A red splotch could easily be seen by the audience. The duel ended at first blood as were the rules of the other party. It was a shame the other party hadn't been aware of their own rules because as soon as the king declared the guard the winner and the cleric turned her back the unthinkable happened.

The duel had obviously shaken the man up and anger had stolen what was left his reason. Only an idiot would attempt to stab a man in the back and only someone with a death wish would stab a _woman_ in the back in front of the royal court and members of the Twelve Holy Knights. The violent act was unexpected and caught everyone off guard- except the cleric.

Before Earth could shield her or before Leaf could draw his bow the bodyguard was on his back with the cleric's sword tapping his cheek lightly. And for added flair the cleric even caught his sword with her free hand as it came back down. The entire hall was dead silent. Once again she had knocked his sword out of his grip meaning that the first time had not been a fluke, but actual skill.

But now I had a problem. How was I supposed explain that a mere _cleric_ knew how to wield a sword. That's the problem with plans; something always goes wrong. I took a deep breath and stood up ready to spout more "God of Light" nonsense to cover our tracks.

Only this time I didn't have to. Speaking in a very calm and compassionate voice the cleric said, "Good sir, as a devout of the God of Light please don't make me cause you injury. His message is one of healing not war, but I will defend my life and my comrades if I am forced to."

_So much for clerics just sitting back and enjoying the breeze_, I smiled. "It is as our beloved sister says. It would surely bring displeasure to the God of light so let there be no bloodshed here."

It's a pity Hell made me swear not to hit on any clerics directly associated with the temple. Barmaids were fine, middle aged lonely house wives were fine, archers, knights, warriors, warpriests, darkpriests (yuck! Did she even know what that entailed?), and even clerics outside of the temple were fine, but any clerics that lived within the city limits were off limits. And unfortunately she had the Pope backing her up on that demand. I was ordered to keep the scandals so a minimum. It was such a waste though.

After being drawn out of his trance the king ordered, "Guards! Arrest this man for endangering the life of one of my citizens IN MY OWN HALL." He put special annunciation on the last few words and looked at the company envoy very harshly. The prime minister could only nod in agreement.

There would be no more negotiations today. For future negotiations we now had one of their men as a hostage and thus had the upper hand.

Master Arthur was absolutely livid.


	7. That

"**That"**

I was very, very much looking forward to changing out of my cleric's disguise and back into my Hell Knight attire. I made a vow to burn my cleric's robes and never don on that disguise ever again. As a matter of fact I came to the decision that I would burn all my disguises and just spend the remainder of my term as Hell Knight doing paperwork. My vice-captain could handle the field work from now on.

My hands were still shaking. I hadn't expected the guard to take a last swing at me. If I hadn't reacted in time my cover would have been completely blown. Honestly that was scarier than dying. What had saved me was that I could clearly sense his killing intent. One of the dangers of my profession was backstabbing. The amateur didn't have a chance.

But it still had been a long day and the first thing I had to do to get back to my quarters was lose the Leaf Knight who was escorting me. I would have been able to ditch him earlier if he hadn't insisted on making a long apology. I did my part of pretending to be a timid cleric who never wanted anything to do with swords again and how scary it had been a) duel and b) duel in front of a noble audience. What was a poor country girl to do?

Well, actually I felt pretty pleased with myself. I had gotten to show off in front of a bunch of people. As the Hell Knight showing off isn't in the job description so I had a lot of fun. I even over acted on purpose so Knight-captain Sun wouldn't know it was me. At least I hope he didn't notice. After all, practicing swordsmanship with Judgment was the biggest direct violation of the "bed rest" order even more than consorting with necromancers. I had to tell Judgment that I was left handed so my shoulder could at least get something of a break.

Finally I rounded on Leaf and made him promise as an apology that he would take me out on a date sometime to a very (expensive) cute (embarrassingly so) café in town as a formal apology. Leaf was no baker's son, but he was handsome enough that'd I enjoy a quick chat over lunch. I just had to make sure the conversation was awkward enough that there was no chance of a second date. It was such a waste, but that was my lot in life. If things between the two countries started heating up then it was very likely I would be sent off for intelligence missions that took _years_.

Actually, on that note maybe I probably should ask for a second date.

"K-Knight-Captain Judgment!" Leaf exclaimed at the sudden appearance of the very ominous looking fellow.

"I'll escort the lady from here," Judgment told him.

_Damn, there goes my second date. _

Leaf and I nodded mutely. Leaf shot me a worried glance before making a hasty exit. Once he was out of eye and ear shot Knight-Captain Judgment handed me a black cloak. I dropped my "harmless maiden" act and raised an eyebrow.

"You're not escorting me to the Sanctuary of Light?" I asked innocently.

"I would if you lived there," Judgment replied smoothly.

I knew he'd figure it out eventually. I just wasn't sure when he'd let me know he had figured it out. Both is work and mine relied heavily on trade secrets. Judgment's duty was to protect the church from the front. Mine was to eliminate threats that came from the back, the side, and from within at times.

Once my face was concealed my voice naturally assumed Knight-Captain Hell's tone. "My true appearance doesn't shock you?"

"No," Judgment remained as calm as ever. "It actually solves quite a few small mysteries."

That's what I hated about the guy. If you give him a single crumb of information he'd be able to tell you what kind of "bread" the crumb came from, where it came from, and when the loaf was made. Drawing broad conclusions from bits of information wasn't something I could do effectively which made me rather envious of him.

But on the other hand I, who was supposed to be under his command, actually served the Sun Knight directly. Logically speaking there should be a bit of resentment between us in the same way that he resents the Sun Knight and the Sun Knight is at odds with the Pope. Best "enemies" all around.

"Theo didn't suspect anything?" Judgment asked in an amused tone.

"Thankfully he's not as sharp as you are." I replied dryly.

"Your wound?" He pointed to the stain on my sleeve.

"Fake. Just a bit of theatrical makeup." I confessed. "Mixing the right color is the hard part and real blood changes color when it dries.

"I'd like to hear more about that." His tone didn't have quite the usual bite when he said it. "The kitchens are closed today so I was able to whip up a little something."

"Oooh, dinner and an interrogation. _How tempting,_" I countered in a flirtatious voice. "But I already promised to get lunch with Leaf. He's such a nice guy that I can't possibly two-time him now."

"I'll break the news to him," Judgment promised and added with dry humor, "Since he's 'such a nice guy' I'm sure he'll understand how madly in love we're going to be."

"I better slip into something more comfortable then." I added suggestively and scooted closer to a window.

"If you take too long it'll be an early breakfast instead of a late dinner." Judgment warned. "I'll be-"

"I'll find you." I told him and prepared to pull my famous disappearing act. But before I left I got to the meat of the matter. "What did you want to talk about."

"_That_." Judgment said bluntly.

* * *

Of the many wonders I had seen as I traveled the world there have been none as bizarre as watching Knight-Captain Judgment serve fish fillets complemented with a glass of white wine. I didn't touch the wine as a matter of professional practice. This was technically a "business meeting" so by "comfortable attire" I had meant my Hell Knight armor and sword. If our philosophical debate got out of hand I wanted to at least be able to defend myself until I could use Knight-Captain Sun as a shield.

"I'll admit I was surprised that you were the one Leaf brought for sword's training." Judgment began his opening statement. "You're the last person who need's sword instructions from me. If it wasn't for your injury…" He trailed off.

Knight-Captain Judgment wasn't referring to the bullet wound I had only just received. The wound he was talking about ran much deeper and was much older. An undead creature had given it to me during _that_ incident. Because it hadn't healed properly my strength and prowess had been compromised. It didn't affect my work, but without bragging I could safely say that between the two of us the better swordsman was me.

"What was I doing in the cleric's quarters?" I asked his next question for him and shrugged in reply. "You should know my work, Knight-Captain Judgment."

"I was under the impression you had been ordered bed rest."

"Indeed," I acknowledged. "I'm a spy. 'Go to work' means snoop and 'bed rest' means go snoop. Intelligence work doesn't give sick days anymore than madam justice, sir."

"Well, being able to spare with you was a still a pleasure," he admitted. "It had been nearly twelve years."

"Really? I didn't realize." I admitted.

"You were taller than me at the time," he mused.

"I don't think that gave me much of an advantage." I pointed out.

"I was angry because you went easy on me."

"I don't think I have to point out that my job description loosely translates as spy AND assassin if the church calls for it." I admonished him gently. "I assure you I was quite inexperienced at the time and didn't want my incomplete training to take over."

"That's a fairly roundabout way of bragging," Judgment growled displeased.

"You should see me try to give a complement." I allowed myself a wry smirk.

Then the subject of "that" came up. Judgment wanted me to give an account of the events that occurred that night. It didn't matter how many years had passed. It didn't matter that I had no desire to relive those events. It also didn't matter that Sun himself had decided the matter was closed. The investigation would continue secretly. I obliged because it was Judgment.

"What I don't understand is why you're asking all this now," I told him. "All because I'm a woman?"

"Yes," Judgment answered bluntly. "And because I can see your face now."

_Well, I can't exactly enjoy succulent fish with a mask on. _

"Yes, but I would hate to bore you with details that you already know." I stalled for time to think. "And information in my business doesn't come cheap." I lowered my fork and looked at him expectantly.

Actually, if I wanted to avoid the subject all together all I had to do was notify Sun, but by pretending to cooperate I was hoping Judgment would get the hint that there really wasn't anything to investigate. It was a terrible misfortune that I couldn't use the "it's part of my work therefore I can't tell you" excuse. He's see through that blatant lie in a heartbeat.

"What do you want from me?" Judgment asked guardedly.

I named my price and I had the great pleasure of seeing his jaw drop.

"It's my business," I reminded him. "Check the church finances one of these days. I believe the code for bribes is still 'special fertilizer'."

"I was hoping for a friendly discount?" Judgment admitted.

"Friends call each by their first names." I told him.

"Gloria…"

"_Carlisle_," I shot back most disrespectfully. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way I'll have some tea if you've got it."

* * *

I sneezed myself awake wondering who would dare speak ill of their Sun Knight. It was just as well. I wasn't dreaming of anything pleasant. The duel must have reminded me of _that_ incident. Watching someone fighting someone they had no business to must have yanked what was left of my heart strings. At least the Cleric had fought a man. Knight-Captain Hell had almost died at the hands of a monster.

Fortunately Knight-Captain Hell hadn't confiscated all of my wine. I had a few select vintages hidden in case of an emergency or, as in this case, celebration. The negotiations had gone swimmingly. The royal family and the church would be joint owners of the transport system. The company would own the machines and provide the drivers, but the land and the tracks belonged to us. In a few decades we would own the system completely and have the proper treaties in place with our neighbors who would follow our example and demand similar negotiations. I chalked it down as another international crisis averted.

There was no need for me to feel guilty about an incident that was passed. It served as an example and a reminder of what my duties were as a Sun Knight, but it was no longer a burden. I carried that badge with honor not guilt, but I still kept strong spirits on hand in case I need to remind my conscience of that fact. It was a single unfortunate incident that wouldn't repeat itself.

However, as soon as I rationalized that point the image of Hell's bleeding shoulder came to mind and I cringed.

These were _peaceful_ times and I would do everything in my power to make sure it stayed that way. The capital was a city with the image of romance. The streets were clean, the food was elegant, and the shops wove together like a beautiful tapestry. Ladies walked arm and arm down the streets in colorful dresses while the young men gawked. Hell could tell the prosperity of a city by its food, but I would dare say that it's the prosperity of the _women_ that show a city's true colors.

Count the number of beautiful and _rich_ women and you'll know how well your economy is doing.

Naturally I took it upon myself to study this subject _in depth_ and I was careful in my choosing. I not only had the reputation of the Sun Knight to consider, but the image of the church had to be protected. In retrospect I may have been too harsh on Hell at the time.

_What do you expect me to do? _Hell demanded. I could tell she was trying to keep her anger in check after I had knocked all her files on the floor.

_I expected you to __**trust**__ me! Not __**spy**__ on me!_ I, however, was angry enough for the both of us.

_Yes,_ Hell agreed. _As Sun Knight and my superior you are entitled to privacy and have my absolute trust. _

She waved a hand at the files at our feet. _They, however, are __**not**__ the Sun Knight and are awarded no such courtesy in the eyes of the church_.

_You are __**not**__ The Church! _I roared. _You don't take your orders from the Pope. You don't answer to Judgment. You answer to __**me**__, Knight-Captain Hell!_

* * *

Judgment gave me a funny look and I giggled in response.

"That was the most serious tongue lashing Knight-Captain Sun ever gave me," I told him.

"And that's why you never call him by name," Judgment mulled over the details. "That must have infuriated him even more."

"Ah, that's just a habit." I shrugged without concern. "It'd be weird to start calling him 'Theo' after all this time."

"What happened next?"

I told Judgment that after our "little argument" I tried to make amends by taking over Sun's patrol duties the next day. It would give us both a chance to cool our tempers and clear our heads. The Sun Knight platoon didn't mind at all since they would be given the day off.

"My platoon also raised no objections since I would be patrolling with them." I explained. "They're used to me giving random orders for 'church business'."

"No one else knew about the switch." Judgment concluded. "There was no way they could know-"

"Which was why we were caught off guard by the creature," I shivered at the thought. "The sun had set and we were finishing up our rounds when it appeared."

"So it was summoned on purpose," Judgment folded his hands thoughtfully. "No wonder Theo reacted badly."

"I'm surprised that you know that I know." I raised an eyebrow. The church's on-call necromancy was a pretty big secret.

"You said yourself you were investigating the women Theo was seeing." Judgment pointed out. "I'm sure there were several odd things that came up."

"A few," I admitted. "But nothing that posed a threat to the Sun Knight's reputation."

"I still don't understand what possessed you to take on the creature single-handedly." Judgment was looking at me with quiet suspicion.

"I didn't," I replied earnestly. "My vice-captain and six of my men were assisting me. I'll admit I underestimated the creature, but I followed standard tactical procedures to the letter. Our aim was to protect the citizens while a messenger was sent to the church."

Judgment knew the story after that. A member of my platoon, bloody and bruised, alerted the temple. Both the Leaf Knight platoon and the Blaze Knight platoon responded immediately. The Sun Knight platoon was alerted shortly after and mobilized.

Knight-Captain Sun was the last to arrive. That wasn't unusual since it was his great pleasure to deliver a finishing blow to all undead creatures that manifested within the city. Unfortunately during that incident he arrived just in time to see the undead creature deliver a finishing blow on his Hell Knight.

Judgment asked his final question, "What did you say to him?"

"My 'last words'? There's no record of any Holy Knight dying during his term of service." I reminded Judgment. Naturally my predecessors probably had something to do with the lack of records, but as my teacher always said, "As long as the Twelve Holy Knights work together they will always prevail."

He gave me a severe look and I back peddled a bit. Looking very ashamed I confessed, "But just in case I asked him not to give the next Hell Knight as much trouble as he gave me."

If I had died it would have been Sun's duty to cover up the matter and appoint a replacement. I knew for a fact that had happened before for "various reasons".

"Ah, that would make sense." Judgment agreed and apologized for the unnecessary interrogation. "Theo was right in declaring the matter closed. I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"Not at all," I amended. "It was a foolish mistake on my part and I paid for my arrogance."

This was partly true. Everything was just as I had told Judgment except for one critical detail.

No one, especially Sun, was ever allowed to know, but the one who had requested the creature wasn't Sun.

_It was me._


End file.
